Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

"In this world, demons and monsters lurk everywhere. Cultivating extraordinary power is an opportunity, a responsibility, and even more so... a death warrant."

There was no encouragement, no comforting words, only stark reality and cold admonitions, which elicited varying reactions from the audience.

Some were excited, some turned pale, and most held their breath.

Su Wenyuan stroked his beard and smiled, his voice gentle: "What Captain Chen said is very true. You need to relax and do your best. On the path of cultivation, aptitude is important, but willpower and perseverance are also indispensable."

"Whatever the outcome today, I only ask that I have a clear conscience."

Let's begin!

With his announcement, the awakening ceremony officially began, and the long line finally started to move forward.

Looking at the excited teenagers below the stage, Su Wenyuan's gaze drifted into the distance: "Seventy years ago, I stood here just like this, with a heart full of trepidation... Time flies, and old friends have passed away."

After saying this, he sighed softly, as if lost in memories.

Upon hearing this, Chen Shuo's hard features softened, and he looked towards the square, vaguely seeing the young faces of his former classmates and the fierce battles on the battlefield.

One by one, figures fell into pools of blood, turning into a handful of yellow earth.

He remained silent, his gaze gradually growing deeper.

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze. It seemed that the relationship between the Demon Suppression Division and the academy was quite close.

In recent days, he has learned a lot about extraordinary things through various channels. This Chen Shuo is obviously a practical person who has crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and his temperament is very different from that of academic representatives like Dean Su.

The long line of people walked one by one to the center of the square, where several strange stones, about half a person's height, grayish-white in color, with faint cloud patterns flowing on their surface, stood.

Beside each spirit-appraising stone, an academy instructor was responsible for recording and guiding the process.

Exclamations of surprise could be heard from time to time.

"Belongs to the category of Earth (戊土)".

"Defense-oriented".

"Inferior grade."

"Belongs to the Yi Wood category."

"Therapeutic."

"Medium grade".

……

As the voices rang out, some were overjoyed, while others were secretly delighted.

But many more people were disappointed and frustrated, leaving in tears.

"Mutant direction".

"Improved eyesight."

"Inferior grade."

Li Yuan stood at the back of a line, observing silently.

He already knew that talents were mainly divided into three categories: offensive, defensive, and healing. There were also a few talents that were difficult to classify and were called mutants.

The grades are divided into three levels: superior, middle, and inferior. Each level is further divided into three grades. Judging from the scene, inferior grades are the most numerous, middle grades are rare, and superior grades have not appeared yet.

As for the cultivation realms, given his status, he didn't know much. He only knew that it started with the most basic body tempering, followed by the Qi Induction Realm and the Subtle Realm. Ordinary people wouldn't know what realms came after that.

"Hey, aren't you scared?"

The boy standing in front of Li Yuan nudged his arm and asked nervously.

Li Yuan glanced to the side and saw a pale-faced young man dressed in brocade robes, with a fine layer of sweat on his forehead.

The jade pendants and sachets on his body were all exquisite, clearly indicating a good family background, but at this moment he lacked the composure of a wealthy young master and was filled with anxiety.

"fine."

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze and gave a curt reply.

"My name is Wu Yu." The boy seemed desperate to relieve his stress by talking. "My family members are all talented, the worst of them are at least of low rank. I already had someone test me once before, and they said I have no talent..."

His voice lowered, "But I'm not giving up. Everyone says the academy's spirit-appraising stones are from outer space, and their testing is more accurate... What if they're wrong?"

Li Yuan glanced at him. This young man was less pursuing power and more overwhelmed by the expectations and pressures of his family.

"You'll know once you test it."

Li Yuan's brief reply contained little comfort, but rather a strange calmness.

"laugh……"

A sneer came from the side, and a young man wearing a jade crown glanced at the two of them and sneered, "Who do we have here? It's just that notorious spendthrift from Chang'an City, isn't it?"

"Oh, I forgot, your father was in charge of money at the Ministry of Revenue. No wonder he went to jail for embezzlement. Wasn't it because he had a son who was good for nothing but squandering money?"

The original owner's reputation as a playboy was deliberately spread by Wang Shi. At that time, he was timid and cowardly, and dared not defend himself at all. Over time, it became a fact.

The people around him joined in the laughter, and one of them pointed at Wu Yu and said, "Isn't this the good-for-nothing of the Wu family? I heard that your Wu family has had talented people for generations, but with your generation, it seems the line is about to end?"

"Hahaha……"

Wu Yu's face flushed red instantly. She clenched her fists, her body trembled slightly, her eyes were filled with shame and indignation, and her lips moved, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Li Yuan didn't even lift his eyelids, as if the mockery was just flies buzzing in his ear.

His gaze swept lightly over the laughing teenagers, noting their faces, but his heart remained unmoved.

The infamy was filthy water splashed by Wang Shi; my father brought it upon himself, so what does it have to do with him?

His goal isn't here at all; there's no need to bother with these brats right now.

Seeing that the two didn't react, the others felt bored, and with an instructor looking over, they quickly pretended to be nonchalant.

Around noon, it was finally Wu Yu's turn.

He dragged his legs to the Spirit Stone, his face pale. Urged by the instructor, he tremblingly extended his right hand and placed it on the cold stone.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

The Spirit Stone remained completely still.

"Ha! He really is a piece of trash!"

The jade-crowned youth, Yang Lin, who had just mocked him, immediately laughed disdainfully.

"The Wu family has really lost face this time!"

"I told you it wouldn't work, but you insisted on making a fool of yourself..."

Laughter erupted, and Su Wenyuan on the stage shook his head slightly, revealing a hint of regret.

Wu Yu's tears finally rolled down her cheeks. Her hand, which was pressed against the stone, trembled violently, but she still stubbornly refused to take it off.

"Give up, don't waste your time!"

Someone shouted in a strange voice.

"Relax."

A calm voice reached her ears, and Wu Yu slowly turned to look at Li Yuan.

Li Yuan looked at him, his eyes calm and unwavering, and repeated, "Don't think about anything, close your eyes, relax."

For some reason, seeing those calm and undisturbed eyes seemed to calm Wu Yu's wildly beating heart.

He nodded, closed his eyes again, tried not to think about anything, and tried to relax his stiff body.

A few breaths later, just as boos erupted from the crowd—

hum!

A deep, muffled sound came from the Spirit Appraisal Stone, followed by a bright, dark blue light that quickly spread across the entire stone surface.

"There's a response?"

The instructor in charge of taking notes was taken aback.

Before anyone could gasp in surprise, the azure light suddenly surged, and a massive shadow shot into the sky.

The figure resembled a giant tortoise, but carried a strangely shaped shell on its back, with light and shadow flowing across it, as if stars and mountains were hidden within it. The tortoise head was held high, and the snake tail was coiled around it, exuding an indescribable heavy aura.

The entire square fell silent instantly, countless eyes staring in shock at the illusory figure.

On the stage, Chen Shuo, who had been observing indifferently, suddenly shifted his gaze and carefully examined the illusory figure.

"Could it be the mythical beast Xuanwu?"

The instructor gasped in surprise.

The bloodline of a divine beast is extremely precious, and it is also one of the four legendary ancient divine beasts, Xuanwu.

This is more than just talent; what merit or ability does the Wu family possess to produce such a genius?

For a moment, everyone's expressions were a fascinating mix.